If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Unspoiling Your Dog

Well please remember Fletcher is my first puppy and sure I have read and read about rasing a puppy and I know this is all my fault but......

Fletcher has been sleeping in the bed with us for several months now. I'm a light sleeper and since Fletcher likes to share my pillow I can say for almost sure this problem just started. He is night wandering around the house..... I felt him jump off the bed a few nights ago so I got up to see if he went outside (we have a doggie door but still I don't like the dogs outside alone. No he was sitting in the dark living room looking at me. I made him go out he didn't potty then I took him back to bed he settled right down. Since then he's doing it everynight a few times a night. I should tell you that my bedroom is on the main floor there is a baby gate in the stairs going to the very off limits kids bedrooms. I love him sleeping with us but this business of getting up with the dog several times a night is NOT going to work. So I think we need to get him back to his area or the crate at night. I'm home with him all day so its not like he is confined much anymore at all. Supervised yes confined no.

Last night we started a new routine and put Fletcher in his Xpen area before we went to bed well as you can guess he had a little doggie fit. Actually he had such a doggie fit that for the first time ever he jumped the xpen so I put him in his crate out in the living room. He barked and barked we ignored him and I was pretty firm that we were going to wait him out. After about an hour he relaxed and was quite then I get up this morning and guess who is sleeping very sweetly on the sofa with my daughter!!!!!!!! So we had a nice long family talk about where Fletcher will sleep from now on.

However, I'm needing some tips on how to help Fletcher deal with this new rule. I'm think about moving the crate to my bedroom. I don't think Fletcher has separation problems when I do leave him in the crate he's pretty quite and doesn't whine or whatever. I also hae the duel problem of having 3 sleeping kids in my house that all need to get up and go to school the next day. I know the answer is to just wait him out. I also know because I messed up and allowed him to sleep in my bed it may take longer to get with this.

So go ahead fuss at me I own it but any tips would be great!

Melissa
"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."
-Roger Caras

The girls sleep with me and I have had the same problem with Lady. Im a light sleeper as well so if she jumped off the bed I would notice. What I did was get up, pick her up and put her back on the bed and say no. If she did it another time I would put her in her crate. Now the only time she jumps off the bed in the night is if she really does have to go out. Maybe it would be easier to just have them stay in the crate but I would miss my bed warmers too much!

Courtney
Lady (1.5 year old tricolour) & Gracie (4 year old blenheim)"Happiness is a warm puppy" - Charles M. Schulz

Is your door open that he can get out and wander around the house? I have two dogs in my room every night. Sometimes they are on the bed, sometimes not. Luke will sometimes jump down and lay on a blanket on the floor, or if I leave a piece of laundry on the floor, he'll often end up there. The other dog always leaves in a few minutes, because I accidentally kick her. If you closed your door, would that solve the problem? What about bringing his crate in with you, so he can't go wandering, but he's not feeling all alone at night?

Fletcher is fabric chewer tho he has not chewed on the bed linens but...... If "someone" left a sock in the floor I think heck I know he would chew it. I have caught him with socks small holes in them before. Plus Fletcher is a magician about finding things he shouldn't have. I try super hard to make sure the main living area of our house is puppy proof but the fact is I have 3 kids and a husband____________ I do the best I can. Fletcher is just now trustworthy unsupervised he's 8 months old the ONLY reason I allowed him in the bed in the first place is because I would know if he left cause every sound or movement wakes me up. Last night in the crate was better. I mean he barks then waits several mins like hello I'm talking to you then barks again just once then waits....then barks then waits no whining if we leave our bedroom door open all the way he can even see us. It took him about a hour to stay quite last night again I left a nightlight on in the dining room.

My daughter gets up and leaves the house at 630am she was able to grab her breakfast and run out without causing any reaction for Fletcher. My middle son gets up at 6:30am and eats in front of the computer (what else should a 12 yr old boy do) which is right near the crate. Fletcher barked and he let Fletcher outside I get up before he leaves at 7:10am. I did notice Fletcher was more velcro dog. But I think Eddie our other dog was actually walking taller this morning HAHAHAAA I hope to have Fletcher sleeping with us when the time is right however since he could hurt himself by eating something he shouldn't we're gonna go back to the crate for now.

Oh one question tho, has or does anyone have one of those pet warming pads? Since he's a fabric chewer he has a fake lambs wool doggie bed but I'm afraid to put anything else in his crate even toys...... any ideas?

Melissa
"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."
-Roger Caras

Tess also likes to wander the house during the night. She generally sleeps with my daughter, so when they are both tucked in, a baby gate goes up in the doorway. Otherwise, Tess will find a shadow or something to bark at around 3 a.m. If you have a gate in your door, will Fletcher stay put?

Is everything else ok with Fletcher? I don't want to alarm you and with Fletcher it's probably something else, but mine started this behaviour when they got SM.

To the best of my knowlegde yes. I mean I think so he did have a bout of yucky tummy like the weekend before this started as a matter of fact that's what I thought when he got up the first few nights. But no his tummy is fine. He does not scratch or head rub or even butt scoot at all. Even normal dog scratching he doesn't really which I think is weird but..... I have only ever heard him yelp twice in his life once when we both fell down the deck stairs But I ended up with the broken bones and once when my bratty kid Mr. Monster pulled his ears when he was mad at me (which will NEVER happen again- or it better not) There has been no weird barking or anything.... During the day he's been the same dog he's always been.

The only changes I have noticed are night wandering and being a little more velcro dog first thing in the morning.

Thanks for mentioning it tho I'll keep a close eye out for any other behavior changes too. Maybe I'm missing something.

Melissa
"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."
-Roger Caras

Great thread for the spoiled rotten bed sleepers and their tired parents! I have had the same problem Melissa. After almost 2 months of trying to get a good routine down, we've finally got one. It consists of lots of pillows, a bully stick, a crate and a baby gate! It's been especially challenging for us because we have a wild animal (I am convinced he's not fully domestic house cat) boy kitty who is back and forth through the house all night making call of the wild noises. Lady wakes up to play with him when he starts howling in the middle of the night for her to keep him company...then she gets in trouble with him. Ugh!

Every night we do the following to prevent house roaming:
-Make sure we have lots of pillows on bed. The fluffier it is the less she wants to get down
-Put baby gate in our bedroom doorway so she cannot leave our pup-proofed bedroom if she hops off the bed
-Leave her crate open with her bed in it
-Leave bully stick and/or knotted sock or un-stuffed moose on the floor (normally after 10 minutes at the longest I will notice she's gone and look for her...I'm fine with her having the bully stick for that short period of time especially if the furthest she can go from me is 4 feet...normally it's her 'smacking' that wakes me up!)
-water bowl

This was a really annoying routine for a while b/c she used to jump down a lot...the cats always got her worked up and wanting to hop down to play. I was in and out in and out in and out of the bed. So much I would get a headache. But NOW after a few weeks she has learned that she never gets to leave the room so she may as well give it up. We still keep the routine up because some days she'll wake up super early and leave the bed. I feel like that baby gate is our Lady fishing net. HAHA!

This is Fern, my daughters hedgehog. She is nocturnal duh? About the same time the roaming started Fern had gotten a new exercise wheel. I can not hear her and night but Fletcher can I guess. However, since I cannot do anything to fix that Fletcher is sleeping in his crate now without much problems. Plus try as I may my bedroom is NOT puppy proof.

I just stuck to my guns about the new sleep in the crate rules. Fletcher gets a treat for going into his crate and maybe we get one or two barks a night now. He still barks in the middle of the night which I think is when he hears Fern running. That must be a odd noise to him.

Fletcher has "met" Fern briefly but and she plays with our other dog. Eddie just watches as she runs around the floor in the evenings but I don't trust Fletcher. That hedgehog will get him LOL

Melissa
"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."
-Roger Caras